1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a bib and, more specifically, to a bib with a pocket portion formed thereon to prevent food and drinks from spilling or falling onto the user's lap.
2. Description of Related Art
Eating and drinking while driving or riding in a car have become ever more common with the proliferation of fast food outlets and quick stop convenience stores. While this is convenient and time saving for most people, food and drink are often spilled while the vehicle is in motion causing substantial damage to people's clothing and to the interior of the automobile.
One common way of dealing with this problem is to use a bib or a similar device to prevent spilled food and drink from contacting a person's clothing or the interior of the a car in which they are traveling. Several devices of this general type have been disclosed in the prior art. These have included bibs which have lap covering portions which prevent spilled food and drink from contacting the user's clothing and bibs with rigid trays or soft pockets formed thereon to catch spilled food and drink.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,056,159, issued Oct. 15, 1991 to William L. Zemke, Jr., discloses a device for protecting a user's garments from spilled food and drink. The device is formed from two sheets of a flexible material which are joined on opposite sides by two sidewalls to define a cavity when in packaged form. Perforations are made around three sides of the top sheet so that it may peeled up to form a bib portion, leaving the bottom sheet and sidewalls to form a tray portion adapted to catch spilled food and drink. Additionally, the bib has a neck encircling piece formed on the top thereof and two adhesive backed tabs formed on opposite sides thereof to attach the device to the user.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,530,968, issued Jul. 2, 1996 to Wendy P. Crockett, discloses a bib intended to be used by automobile drivers and passengers as they commute to work. The bib is formed from a single sheet of flexible water impervious material by cutting a neck encircling portion through the sheet adjacent the top thereof and folding the bottom edge of the sheet up and securing the edges thereof to the middle of the sheet to form a debris receiving pocket.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,220,692, issued Jun. 22, 1993 to Lamar Cox, also discloses a garment protecting device intended to be worn by automobile drivers and passengers. The device has a neck encircling strap which secures a bib portion over the user's torso and a lap covering portion formed integrally on the bottom of the bib portion. The opposite side edges of the lap portion are reinforced with elongate weights to ensure that the lop portion lies flat over the user's legs.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,114,199, issued Sep. 19, 1978 to Mabel Malan, and U.S. Pat. No. 5,062,558, issued Nov. 5, 1991 to Michael A. Stang, disclose bibs having trays adapted to catch spilled food and drink formed on their bottom edges. The tray on the bib of Malan is preformed thereon by folding the peripheral edges of the bottom portion of the bib upward and securing them to each other with an adhesive to form the sidewalls defining the tray while the tray on the bib of Stang is formed by inserting a rigid cardboard member into a cavity formed in the flexible material of the bib.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,265,690, issued Dec. 9, 1941 to Josephine Fiedler, discloses an apron having a tray adapted to catch food therein formed on the bottom edge thereof. The tray on the apron of Fiedler is also formed by folding the peripheral edges of the bottom of the apron upward to define the sidewalls of the tray. However, the sidewalls of the tray have tongues formed thereon which overlap each other and a keeper loop so that a removable key may be used to secure the sidewalls in place so that the tray may be easily unfolded.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,649,572, issued Mar. 17, 1987 to Thomas H. Roessler, and U.S. Pat. No. 4,797,952, issued Jan. 17, 1989 to Grace Petrini, disclose general purpose disposable bibs having neck encircling portions formed on the top thereof and debris receiving pockets formed on the bottom thereof. The debris receiving pockets on both bibs are formed by folding the bottom edge of the sheet from which the bib is formed up and securing its opposite edges to middle of the bib to define the pocket.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,457,820, issued Oct. 17, 1995 to Patricia G. Yielding, discloses a bib adapted to be used by an infant in a car seat. The bib has a neck encircling member formed on the top thereof and two car seat attaching members formed on the bottom thereof.
U.S. Pat. No. Des. 152,879, issued Mar. 1, 1949 to Louis Grassi, and U.S. Pat. No. Des. 625,115, issued Apr. 7, 1995 to Charles W. Vassar, Sr., disclose decorative designs for bibs having trays or pockets formed on the bottom edge thereof.
However, none of the prior art discloses a bib having a tab formed in an upper portion of the bib having a reinforced end for securely supporting the bib from a person's collar. Additionally, none of the prior art discloses an adhesive tab attached to the sides of a bib at a lower portion thereof for anchoring the lower portion of the bib to a person wearing the bib. None of the above inventions and patents, taken either singly or in combination, is seen to describe the instant invention as claimed.